BTerrell Group Blog

Robotic process automation has become a buzzword most procurement professionals can’t escape. But despite its seeming ubiquity, RPA still tends to produce just as much head scratching as efficiency gains.

Taken out of context, RPA can seem like yet another disruptive technology to keep track of alongside machine learning, blockchain and the like. Really, RPA is a single element of an overall procurement digital transformation strategy, and one of the more readily accessible technologies, in fact. For many procurement organizations, adopting RPA can be a first step on the digital roadmap that helps sustain more complex initiatives further along.

Let’s say you’re an overworked sales manager for a growing widget manufacturer with annual sales in excess of $50 million.

You’re a hard worker (okay the hardest working person in the company) and you’ve just been notified on a Saturday morning that a $100,000 sale came through the website. You go to the office and check the accounting system and yes indeed the order was placed at 2 a.m. You check the CRM system and yes the new customer’s info has been correctly entered. To your even greater delight, the sale was entered in the ERP system.

But wait, who entered the info correctly in the three systems that don’t talk to each other? You’re the only person in the office. It’s hard to imagine any of those young sales guys giving up a Saturday morning. And who notified you?

Then you remember the company’s newest member – the RPA robot – a virtual system that can move data between systems that the IT department said could never be integrated. Without any grumbles, the robot has monitored the website, accurately copied data, looked up customer info, and notified you before you had your first cup of coffee. Better still, the robot won’t ask for time off, call in sick or grumble about impossible hours. You happily give him the title of being the company’s hardest worker.

Enterprises in the early stages of their automation journey are still apprehensive about implementing RPA; those who are implementing RPA are struggling to remove human intervention. Many a time, RPA is bottled down as an immediate solution, which is far from true.

Businesses of all sizes— from enterprises to start-ups— have realized the value that automation brings. We now see automation solutions delivering high impact, focused results across various domains— from shipping and logistics to software development and ecommerce.

Cognitive RPA is becoming one of the fastest moving technologies that is helping the enterprises to automate their complex repetitive tasks done by humans which takes lot of time and efforts. RPA technology vendors are integrating cognitive capabilities within RPA platforms for making it more advanced and intelligent.

Global cognitive robotic process automation market is rapidly growing due to increasing adoption of digital workforce across different industries. Cognitive technologies integrated within robotic process automation helps to automate complex repetitive tasks by enabling decision making capabilities. This helps to carry out activities such as data entry and reconciliations.

Brian Terrell sat down with Johnny Ramondino, President of IN-RGY Consulting, to discuss the advantage of utilizing Robotic Process Automation to gather data-driven operational insight. Turns out that RPA provides a treasure trove of essential information for the business.